Meso-American Molas

Molas (traditional textiles created by Meso-American indigenous tribes)

pronounced: mo-la (rhymes with cola)

Activity: cutting paper and gluing

Supplies needed: black construction paper + 3 pieces of brightly colored paper (different shades), scissors, glue sticks

Background information: 

Molas are brightly colored textiles made by the Kuna indians in Panama. These textiles represent a larger artistic tradition shared by the ancient meso-american cultures: the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs. 

• great article about molas here

Discussion ideas: 

In the 7th grade history text book (in the unit on meso-america), the kids read about how the Aztec, Inca, and Mayan cultures were polytheistic. That means that they worshipped multiple gods, many of whom took animal shapes. Look at the molas seen in the slideshow and ask the kids if they have ideas about why the artisans may have chosen their particular subjects. Ask the kids how the people in these cultures lived - which was very close to the land. This closeness may also have affected the choice of subject (the flowers and leaf shapes, etc.).

Using THIS slideshow that I found on slideshare, we went through some mola examples (also using the discussion questions: what do you see? What more can you find? What makes you say that?) The slideshare then gives great instructions for doing this project, step by step. One change we made after doing the first class is to NOT worry about having the design be connected in one spot (see below, the wolves connect, but it's tricky and not everyone could do it and it works just as well to do them separately).

Student Work: